Workers want lower age for pensioners benefits
Jul 03, 2007
THE Government should lower the age at which pensioners get their benefits to enable them invest the money early enough, a leader of a labour organisation has proposed, write Harriette Onyalla and Aidah Nanyonjo.<br>
THE Government should lower the age at which pensioners get their benefits to enable them invest the money early enough, a leader of a labour organisation has proposed, write Harriette Onyalla and Aidah Nanyonjo.
“It is good to get this package, invest it and retire. But this system of making people retire and start chasing for their benefits while poverty is hitting them is not good. It causes a lot of trauma resulting into death of some before getting it,†Charles Mubbale, the chairman of the Civil Society Organisations Coalition on Social Security and Pension Reform, explained.
He said this during a function organised by the Platform for Labour Action at Hotel Equatoria in Kampala.
He said the Social Security Bill should also cater for people who are retrenched or affected by terminal illnesses so that they receive their benefits before the set age.
“Calamities are never planned, so setting the age benefit defeats the purpose of the benefit. One can be retrenched or sacked from a job after saving with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for over 10 years. Why should an NSSF contributor wait for decades to access his savings?†Mubbale asked.
“It is good to get this package, invest it and retire. But this system of making people retire and start chasing for their benefits while poverty is hitting them is not good. It causes a lot of trauma resulting into death of some before getting it,†Charles Mubbale, the chairman of the Civil Society Organisations Coalition on Social Security and Pension Reform, explained.
He said this during a function organised by the Platform for Labour Action at Hotel Equatoria in Kampala.
He said the Social Security Bill should also cater for people who are retrenched or affected by terminal illnesses so that they receive their benefits before the set age.
“Calamities are never planned, so setting the age benefit defeats the purpose of the benefit. One can be retrenched or sacked from a job after saving with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for over 10 years. Why should an NSSF contributor wait for decades to access his savings?†Mubbale asked.